Rally to Restore Sanity (Jon Stewart: Oct. 30 on Washington D.C. mall): as announced thus far

article from Thursday Oct. 14, NY TIMES online edition

Growing Interest, Despite Questions, in Jon Stewart’s Rally
By BILL CARTER

 Though no one is quite sure what it is going to be yet, the Rally to Restore Sanity, organized by the comedian Jon Stewart and set for Oct. 30 on the National Mall in Washington, is drawing widespread national attention.
Most national news organizations have made requests for credentials to cover the event, and almost 300,000 people have so far signed up to attend. What Mr. Stewart’s cable network, Comedy Central, is labeling “satellite rallies” have been scheduled in more than 40 locations nationally and at least six foreign countries.
And all of this has taken shape despite a minimal publicity effort from Comedy Central, beyond announcements of some details by Mr. Stewart and his colleague, Stephen Colbert, on their late-night shows, and information doled out on Web sites created for the event.
News organizations have no idea whether the event is meant to be political or entertaining in nature, but most of them, including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and the three network evening newscasts, have plans to cover at least some portion of the rally live.
Comedy Central itself will have full live coverage of the three-hour rally, scheduled to begin at noon. The other television outlets will be asked to join a pool providing separate video coverage of the event.
Comedy Central is not allowing individual coverage by each outlet, out of concern that the area could be overrun with television satellite trucks, potentially blocking the views of some of the crowd, according to the Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox.
Mr. Fox said the rally had requested a permit for the National Mall and had every expectation of receiving one, though it had not yet been officially granted.
The news division of NPR felt compelled this week to send out a memorandum clarifying that its staff members were not to participate in the rally, expecting that it would be political enough to fall into the category of events that journalists should not take part in. Other news organizations made similar comments on Thursday about staff attendance at the event.
Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert have continued to discuss the rally in terms that make it sound like at least as much a comedy performance as a political event, and a roster of guest stars — none named so far — are expected to appear.
Sign-ups for the rally have been tallied on Facebook. Beyond the 290,000 who have so far signed on as definite attendees, 145,000 more have listed themselves as maybes.
The site Rallymao.com has assembled a roster of the scheduled satellite events in more than 25 states. One in New York City has been set for the SoHo Gallery for Digital Art. Other sites include the Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul, Civic Center Park in Denver, Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta and Wasilla Middle School in Alaska.
The international locations so far include London, Paris and Melbourne (no specific sites mentioned), along with the Copenhagen Town Hall in Denmark and, perhaps most intriguingly, “base camp” at Mt. Everest in Nepal.
Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert have so far offered few specifics on the event. Mr. Colbert’s blowhard-conservative character will try to counter Mr. Stewart’s message — seeking a more rational approach to political discourse — by urging participants to “keep fear alive.”
But the Rallymao site made an attempt to characterize the event: “It’s like Woodstock, except it’s going to be everywhere, and without the mud.”